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,Chapter 2 Words and Meaning,Words,Words are units of expression which language users can intuitively recognize in either speech or writing. In speech, words are sequences of sounds between pauses. In writing, words are sequences of letters between blanks.,1. Grammatical meaning and Lexical meaning,Grammatical meaning indicates grammatical concept or relationships such as part of speech of words, singular and plural meaning of nouns, tense meaning of verbs and their inflectional forms. (语法意义指词义中表示语法概念或关系的那部分意义。例如词类、名词的单复数、动词的时态意义及它们的屈折形式。) For example : girls, winters, tables, joys We notice that word-forms, though denoting different objects of reality, have something in common. This common element is the grammatical meaning of plurality.,Lexical meaning is the meaning of an isolated word in a dictionary. This component of meaning is identical in all the forms of the word. (林承璋：词汇意义是词典中一个独立词的意义。在该词的所有形式中，其词汇意义相同。）For example : The word-forms go, goes, went, going, gone possess different grammatical meanings of tense, person, and so on, but in each of these forms we find one and the same semantic component.,2. Conceptual Meaning & Associative Meaning,Conceptual meaning is meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning. 概念意义是词典中所给的意义，是词义的核心。,Associative meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning. It differs from the conceptual meaning in that it is open-ended and indeterminate, liable to the influence of such factors as culture, experience, religion, etc. 联想意义是概念意义的补充意义，是次要意义。它受语言外界因素如文化、经历、宗教、地域、出身、教育等的影响而变化，所以是开放性的，是不定的。,What are the sources of associative meanings?,The persons who use such lexemes; The settings in which such lexemes are employed; Cultural values associated with the referents of the lexemes; The occurrence of such lexemes in prior texts; Contamination from linguistic collocations; Contamination from homophones.,1) Connotative Meaning,It refers to the overtones or associations suggested by the conceptual meaning. 内涵意义是由概念意义产生的言外之意或联想。 What connotations do you think “home”, “dragon” and “mother” might have?,2) Stylistic Meaning,Apart from their conceptual meanings, many words have stylistic features, which make them appropriate for different styles. 很多词除了其概念意义外，还有文体色彩，以适应不同的文体风格。 In some dictionaries, these stylistic features are clearly marked as formal, informal, literary, archaic, slang and so on.,Compare the following two groups of synonyms:,leave job cant tired ad,depart position cannot fatigued advertisement,3) Affective Meaning,Affective meaning expresses the speakers attitude towards the person or thing in question. This meaning can be overtly and explicitly conveyed simply by the choice of the right words.情感意义反映作者或说话人对所谈论的人或物、事态等表示的个人情感或态度。这种意义可以通过选用表情词直接了当地表现出来。,Words that have emotive values may fall into two categories: appreciative and pejorative/derogative. Words of positive overtones are used to show appreciation or the attitude of approval; those of negative connotations imply disapproval, contempt or criticism.,appreciative pejorative,little famous slim/slender Determined Statesman Confidence Farmer publicity,Small notorious skinny Pigheaded Politician Complacency Peasant propaganda,Reflected meaning反映意义,It arises in words of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. This can explain why it has become increasingly difficult for native speakers of English to use such terms as “intercourse”, “ejaculation”, and “erection” in their “innocent” senses without evoking their sexual association.,Collocative meaning 搭配意义,It consists of associations a word gets from those words that are often used together with it. E.g. pretty + girl, woman, flower, garden, colour, village handsome + boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, typewriter，airliner But: pretty woman: attractive in facial features handsome woman: not facially beautiful but attractive in other aspects: a slender figure, posture, behaviour, etc.,Words and Conceptual Meaning,1. Words specific in English culture Words and geography：Most of such words are related to the geographical features of the U.S.A., the U.K. and the Commonwealth of Australian, such as place names, plant and animal names. The Great Lakes: Huron, Michigan, Superior, Ontario, Erie (rarely found in BrE, because they are only used to refer to or relate to the geographical features of the U.S.A.） Poke(美洲商陆，植物名), terrapin（北美泥龟）, hickory(北美胡桃), woodchuck(土拨鼠) (rarely found in BrE, because they are plants or animals only found in North America.),Words and history Words related to the American history: the May Flower, Pilgrim Fathers (British Puritans who sailed to America in the May Flower in 1620 and founded their first colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts.), the Revolutionary War or War of Independence, Continental Congress, Emancipation Proclamation, Homestead Act, scalp, lynch, cowboy, hippie Words related to the British history: duke, knight, Glorious Revolution, castle, fort,Words and politics,Politics in Australia,A. The power of the Queen in Australia Legally (formally), the head of the executive, head of the judiciary, commander-in-chief of all armed forces, and the temporal head the Church of England. So she can summon and dissolve Parliament, appoint ministers and judges, and assenting to legislation being represented by a Governor-General or six state Governors. In practice, her role is mainly symbolic, representing the nations hopes and ideals as well as its historical past. These powers are, by convention, only exerted on the advice of the state or federal government.,B. The components of the executive Legislature Judiciary Administration,Words and holidays,Most holidays are associated with Christianity or living styles in western countries. A. Christian feasts Easter Christmas (words associated with it) B. Feasts associated with living styles St. Valentines Day April Fools Day Boxing Day C. Patriotic holidays Anzac Day Thanksgiving Day,Words and living styles,Words associated with western-style food and drink, roadside business, sports and sex morality. A. English allusions from baseball and rugby (chapter 5, P206) to hit and run not even to get to the first base to throw me a curve ball to carry the ball,B. Privacy and culture Discuss the different conceptual meanings of “privacy” and “隐私” and the related culture. Mona Lisa: Man is at the centre of the universe. Chinese landscape paintings: Man is only part of the universe.,2. English words that correspond partially in conceptual meaning with their translation equivalents in Chinese.,Age-related words: young, middle-aged, old In mass media and official documents, a male or female cadre or intellectual in his or her forties may be referred as a youth. Such use of terms has become a stylistic feature of these varieties of Chinese Some English words cover a much smaller range of people or things than their counterparts in Chinese: intellectuals vs. 知识分子 social sciences vs. 社会科学 The architectural contrast between “yard” and “院子” In many cases, several Chinese words correspond to a small number of or even one English word and vice versa: words referring to various types of males, kinship terms Drug store vs. 药店,2. English words and what may be mistaken for their equivalents in Chinese,A. English noun compounds vs. noun phrases adj. + n. ( ) or（ ） greenhouse温室 绿色的房子, busywork耗时而又无价值的工作 忙碌的工作 Busybody爱管闲事的人 大忙人, free love 公开同居自由恋爱 high school 高中 高等学校, lowboy矮脚抽屉柜 矮个子男孩 first lady第一夫人 原配夫人, tallboy 高脚玻璃杯高个男孩 political campaign 政治运动 (In America, political campaign refers to the organized activities by a candidate for public office, such as a candidate for the U.S. presidency, to build up the persons image in order to attract the votes in election.) goldbrick 金锭 (Goldbrick is an American slang for a person who shirks assigned duties, esp. a soldier who does so. (a shirker, a loafer),(2) n. + n. / -ing or s + n. ( ),busmans holiday消磨于与日常工作类似之活动的假日 donkeywork 单调的日常工作，苦役 police action 未经正式宣战，对破坏国际和平与秩序的叛乱者采取的镇压行动, restroom 厕所休息室, housewarming 乔迁喜宴房屋供暖 busboy 公共汽车上的青年售票员或司机（AmE）Busboy refers to a person whose work is to remove the dirty dishes and set the tables in a restaurant service station 服务站 It is a place where people go to get gasoline or other services for their cars.,B. English derivatives,Lover 爱人 Disinterested 无兴趣 Cooker 厨师 Wester 西方人 Equalitarianism/egalitarinism 平均主义（the view or doctrine that all men have equal social and political rights),C. Idioms,改善生活 improve ones standard of living 令人发指 to make ones hair stand on end 自食其言 to eat ones own words to get a kick of sth. 被踢出去 to blow ones own horn or trumpet 各吹各的号,3. Conceptual meaning and word formation,A. Terms for the sex or age of domestic animals or birds. In Chinese: 公（雄）,母（雌），小（雏）+ generic names In English: special names (in most cases) bull / cow, cock / hen, she + generic names,shoat,B. Terms for the flesh from domestic animals or birds. In Chinese: generic names + 肉 In English: special terms for the flesh from pigs (pork), cows (beef) and sheep (mutton), but the same generic name for that of other animals or birds.,Words and connotative meaning,(1) Words positive in meaning in English but pejorative or neutral in Chinese: sexy, young, dog, ambitious, aggressive, self-made man (2) Words neutral in meaning in English but pejorative in Chinese: individualism, landlord, capitalist, boss, lover, free love (3) Words pejorative in meaning in English but positive or neutral in Chinese: old, peasant, comrade, do-gooder, propaganda,Words and social meaning,A. Different labels attached to the same objects or concepts in BrE or AmE. B. The same words in BrE and AmE referring to different objects or concepts. C. Pairs of synonyms: Different terms referring to the same objects or concepts in English and French. The English word is used in everyday speeches and correspondences, while the French word is used in formal or literary contexts.,D. Triplets of synonyms: Different words attached to the same objects or concepts in English, French and Latin. The English is normally used in daily conversations and correspondences. The French is used in formal or literary contexts. And the Latin is used mainly in academic writing or legal, religious or official documents.,Words and affective meaning,A. Some of the English interjections and interjection-like expressions of emotions and attitudes: Ah, Aha, Alas, Well, Why, Dear, Oh Dear, God, My God, Good God, Great God, Lord, Good Lord, Lord God, Good Heavens B. The interjections and interjection-like expressions in Chinese: 啊，唉，哎呀，嗨，嘿，哎哟，天啊，老天爷啊，谢天谢地，阿弥陀佛 C. The words the speaker has purposefully chosen may reveal the speakers emotions and attitudes towards the hearer, as in, You are a liar, I hate you for that.,Similarities and differences between English and Chinese interjections,Both English speakers and Chinese people resort to “heaven” to express emotions and attitude. The religion that has entered the interjections in English and Chinese is different. English speakers and Chinese people produce different sounds to the same physical stimulus.,Words and reflected meaning,English and Chinese speakers may view the same thing in different ways. The same object is viewed from different perspectives in English and Chinese. A. English compounds: marble-hearted(铁石心肠)， ferrous metal(有色金属） B. English idioms to split ones sides with laughter (P178) to make ones flesh creep (P180),C. English words connected with the physiology of sex: cock, intercourse, ejaculation, erection,Words and collocative meaning,A. Terms of office used to distinguish different types of persons who hold office just below the title to which it is attached. 副: vice, lieutenant by way of French associate from Latin deputy from French under of English origin 中 + military ranks only B. Verbs phrases make / take + n. different verbs used in Chinese 看/开+ n. different verbs used in English,
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